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YouTube Video Sparks Kickball Game Brawl, Police Say

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By VALERIE KALFRIN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 23, 2008

TAMPA - A city-sanctioned kickball game at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park on Wednesday night devolved into a brawl involving about 100 people, according to a preliminary police report.

However, none of the kickball players or organizers appears to have been involved in the fight, said Tampa police Lt. Rocky Ratliff.
Ratliff said that from what he has learned, a group of girls about 16 to 22 years old were fighting about something on YouTube. He didn't know any more about the circumstances.

Kickball games at the park at 1001 N. Boulevard have been a focal point over the past few weeks after city officials told the mothers and daughters comprising the teams that they needed permits to play. The city started hearing complaints from neighborhood residents about the commotion during and after the games, officials said.
Ratliff said police, officials from the city's Parks and Recreation Department and organizers have met in recent weeks and decided the players didn't need a permit because they're a league.

Parks Director Karen Palus has previously said that events with more than 200 people attending require a permit. Palus could not be reached Thursday.

According to police, a woman called 911 about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to report about 100 people fighting at the park. Officers found a crowd in the parking lot gathered around people who were fighting.

After police worked their way through the crowd, they saw several girls with ripped shirts and some hair weaves that had been pulled from combatants' heads, the report states.

No one was willing to identify who was fighting or offer any details, police said.

As the crowd began to disperse, police advised the event organizer - who was not named in the report - that the kickball game would have to end.

The organizer became vocal about her rights to have the game in the park and shouted obscenities at police, the report states.

Within minutes, another fight broke out across the street involving the same people, who at this point had armed themselves with sticks. Again, a crowd gathered and the officers had to force their way through the crowd. No victims or suspects could be located, so no arrests were made, police said.

Editor Howard Altman contributed to this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at vkalfrin@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7800.

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